


alo(v)e you vera much

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, M/M, Magical Realism, Modern Fantasy, Neighbors, SASO 2016 Prompt Fill, it's like subtle though???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 03:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7297855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What…” Hajime trails off and gestures to the small package in resting Oikawa’s open palms. It’s seven am on a Sunday and far too early to be dealing with whatever his neighbour is blabbering on about. “What is <i>this</i>?”</p><p>“It’s a <i>cactus</i>, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa says cheerfully, apparently oblivious to the murderous intent radiating off Hajime because where the hell did Iwa-chan come from? “For you.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	alo(v)e you vera much

**Author's Note:**

> saso 2016 bonus round one prompt fill for @mypolyshippingass !!

Oikawa Tooru is, for lack of a better word, a little  _disconcerting_.

He's nice enough, with a bright smile that stretches from cheek to cheek and warm brown eyes and a pleasant voice that makes Hajime's heart stutter just a  _tiny_ bit the first time he invites himself across the threshold in Hajime's apartment and introduces himself.

But there's something - something Hajime can't quite put his finger on - that's a little  _off_.

"Oikawa Tooru," he says politely, sticking out a hand for Hajime to shake. "Your new neighbour." He smiles again - and it's a very nice smile - as he drops his hand and peers inquisitively around Hajime's new apartment, taking in the boxes and suitcases and half built furniture taking up every inch of the floor.

"Uh— Nice to meet you?" Hajime says, though it comes out sounding more like a question than anything else because, before he can ask him what the  _hell_ he think's he's doing, Oikawa invites himself further into his home. Hajime watches warily as Oikawa traipses up and down his apartment, brows furrowed into a small frown as he pops his head behind doors and rummages lazily through Hajime's open boxes and suitcases, sighing and shaking his head every now and then.

"Are you— Are you  _looking_ for something?"

Oikawa shakes his head as he peers behind Hajime's couch, making a noise of annoyance when he reemerges five seconds later. "Not really. Just checking."

"Checking for  _what_?" Hajime asks, annoyance seeping into his tone now because, really, this is just ridiculous.

Oikawa doesn't answer. Instead, he glances around Hajime's apartment one last night, nods to himself, and then makes his way back to the front door. "It was lovely to meet you, Iwaizumi-san," Oikawa says pleasantly, tipping his head at little at Hajime as if this  _hadn't_ just been the most bizarre first meeting of all time. "Welcome to the neighbourhood."

Hajime frowns at his door once Oikawa tugs it gently closed behind him. "What the hell?"

* * *

 

As Hajime soon finds out, Oikawa Tooru is more than just a _little_ disconcerting.

"What..." Hajime trails off and gestures helplessly to the tiny package in resting in Oikawa's open palms. It's seven am on a Sunday and  _far_ too early to be dealing with whatever his neighbour is blabbering on about now. "What is  _this_?"

"It's a cactus, Iwa-chan," Oikawa says cheerfully, apparently oblivious to the murderous intent radiating off Hajime because where the hell did  _Iwa-chan_ come from? "For you."

Hajime sighs and runs a tired hand down his face because he  _knows_ it's a cactus, what he  _doesn't_ know is why his neighbour is standing outside his door at three minutes past seven on a Sunday morning giving it to him when they could  _both_ be sleeping.

"I saw it and it reminded me of you," Oikawa continues on, stupidly bright smile still plastered across his face. "Y'know, cause you have that hair?"

"What's wrong with my h—"

"Anyway," Oikawa says, easily sidestepping Hajime to - once again - invite himself into his apartment. "I thought I should get you a housewarming gift. And I  _know_ food is the tradition but, honestly, I'm not a great cook and Mattsun tells me the food poisoning he got from the last meal I tried to cook lasted for about two weeks and I  _really_ didn't want you to have to go through that. So—" He holds the cactus up in the air, blinking owlishly down at Hajime. " _Ta-da!_ "

Hajime rubs his eyes. He has to be dreaming. He  _has_ to be because this right here? This just isn't normal. Oikawa Tooru is  _not_ normal.

"Iwa-chan?" Oikawa snaps a finger in his face. "Are you alright? You look tired. Are you getting enough sleep? Sleep is  _very_ important, Iwa-chan."

"I  _was_ sleeping," Hajime says through gritted teeth, the mantra ' _don't kill your new neighbour, don't kill your new neighbour_ ' running through his mind. "And I'd like to get back to it if you don't mind."

"Of  _course_ ," Oikawa says, smile still irritatingly wide. "Here." He sets the cactus down on Hajime's coffee table before huffing quietly and moving it to the windowsill. He stares at it for a few seconds before he nods. " _Perfect_."

"Right. Great," Hajime yawns, pointedly gesturing towards the door. "Thanks."

"You're  _welcome_ ," Oikawa says brightly, glancing over at the cactus once more before he saunters over to the door. "Enjoy your sleep, Iwa-chan."

And then he's gone and the only thing to prove that what Hajime just suffered through  _wasn't_ a stress-induced dream, is the tiny cactus sat on his windowsill.

Hajime glares at it for a few seconds before another yawn slips from his lips and he remembers what's  _really_ important here. Sleep. Lots of it.

Grumbling something about crazy neighbours and never answering the door before midday, Hajime shuffles back to his bedroom and completely misses the way his new cactus  _ruffles_ in a non-existent breeze.

* * *

 

Honestly, Oikawa isn't  _that_ bad.

He's a little (a lot) odd and has a strange tendency of inviting himself into Hajime's home to stare critically at the cactus, often  _talking_ to it in hushed tones, like he's scolding it, before he sighs and moves it to some other corner of the room because ' _it just looks nicer here, Iwa-chan_ ' but, other than that, Hajime has to admit he  _is_ pretty nice.

And thoughtful.

"—The  _best_ ramen for miles," Oikawa is saying, gesturing excitedly towards the two bowls that have just been placed in front of them. "You're gonna  _love_ it, Iwa-chan."

"Remind me how I let you drag me out for  _ramen_ at close to midnight on a Wednesday when I have a meeting first thing in the morning?" Hajime mumbles, though the venom he wants isn't there because, like he said, Oikawa  _is_ pretty nice. And thoughtful.

Thanks to a lack of staff and deadline season approaching, Hajime has been working late and long hours almost religiously over the last few weeks, spending only inconsequential bursts of time in his apartment before he has to rush back out to the office again and— Honestly? It's taking its toll on him.

He catches his reflection in a window and winces. He looks  _awful_.

"Because you look awful," Oikawa says through a mouthful of ramen, wagging his chopsticks sternly in Hajime's face. "You look like you haven't slept in weeks."

Hajime scowls at him and kicks him gently under the table. " _I've_ been sleeping."

"Not properly," Oikawa presses, happy-go-lucky smile dropping slightly from his face as he peers a little closer at Hajime. "And eating? Have you been doing  _that_?

Hajime rolls his eyes and shoves a mouthful of ramen into his mouth to avoid answering Oikawa question because, if anyone out of the two should be worrying about the other's wellbeing it's  _Hajime_. As far as he can tell, Oikawa literally doesn't sleep. 

No matter what time of day or night it is, Hajime hears Oikawa pottering around his apartment, humming to himself or (on more than one occasion)  _talking_ to himself. Hajime can't count the number of times he's heard a soft ' _now, you're not doing what I've asked, are you?_ ' or ' _you'll never grow if you keep doing_ that' from Oikawa's walls at stupid hours of the night. And that's not even counting the strange people he's sees wandering into Oikawa's apartment at ridiculous hours.

There's the guy with pinkish hair who always winks at Hajime when they pass in the corridor and the guy with bushy eyebrows with a lazy smile who always looks at Hajime like he  _knows_ something about him who come over pretty regularly. But then there are a whole host of other people who wander in and out at odd hours, mumbling things like ' _and you're sure it'll work?_ ' and ' _the last one you gave me made it worse!_ ' and ' _and you're sure it won't kill him?_ ' - to this one, he hears a distinctly Oikawa-sounding laugh followed by ' _like ninety percent Kunimi-chan_.'

So yeah, if  _anyone_ should be worried about their neighbour not getting any sleep, it's Hajime. And yet, it's  _Oikawa_ staring at him with a concerned frown on his face, looking like he's about five seconds away from demanding Hajime march home and tuck himself into bed.

"I'm  _fine_ ," Hajime says firmly. "Let's just eat and hurry back."

Oikawa looks like he wants to say something else, but he apparently decides against it before shrugging and turning his attention back to his ramen. "Whatever you say, Iwa-chan."

_Very disconcerting._

* * *

Two days later, Oikawa turns up on his doorstep with a bamboo plant and a wide smile.

"For  _you_ , Iwa-chan," he says, stepping (uninvited  _again_ ) into Hajime's apartment with the plant in his arms. "I thought you needed something to, ah— Brighten up the place?" 

Hajime runs a stressed hand down his face because he does  _not_ have time to be dealing with this. He has a deadline tomorrow and about  _fifty pages_ to check and double check before he'll even be  _halfway_ finished and he  _really_ doesn't need his well-meaning, but ultimately  _weird_ , neighbour knocking down his door to deliver a bloody bamboo plant of all things. 

"Oikawa, liste—"

"I'll just put it here," Oikawa says quickly, walking towards Hajime's kitchen island where a mountain of paperwork covers every inch of the black marble. He shoves some of the paperwork aside and drops the plant on top of it, twitching it slightly before he pulls back and nods. "All done, Iwa-chan."

"Great," Hajime grunts. "Now, I  _really_ have work to finish, so..."

"Of  _course_ ," Oikawa smiles politely and inches towards the front door. "I'll get out of your hair."

Hajime sighs as he waves Oikawa away and shuts the door behind him. He'll make it up to him later. 

 

 

Exactly two hours after Oikawa's impromptu visit, Hajime starts to feel  _different_.

The stress he's been feeling for the last few weeks starts to roll off him in waves, replaced by something calmer. Something more  _pleasant_. 

He frowns as he glances up at the plant sitting just a few inches away from him, swaying gently in a non-existent breeze.

* * *

 

"Do you have a girlfriend, Iwa-chan?"

Hajime spits out his drink. " _What_?"

"A girlfriend?" Oikawa repeats patiently, shifting in his position on the sofa to glance properly at Hajime. "Do you have one?"

" _No_."

Oikawa hums and turns his attention back to the television and, for a moment, Hajime allows himself the (honestly  _stupid_ ) delusion that this means the conversation is done. 

"A boyfriend?" Oikawa asks suddenly after a few seconds of silence. 

Hajime spits out his drink. Again. " _Why_ are you asking me this?"

They've been neighbours for the better part of six months now and Hajime's not too proud to admit that they're  _friends_ now - really good friends actually. They're sitting squashed on Hajime's sofa, watching a documentary on the history channel about Egypt that somehow (Hajime's still not sure how) managed to deviate from any  _actual_ history and instead is just about  _aliens_. But this is  _normal_ for them.

Friday nights are spent in Hajime's apartment watching crappy films and eating crappier food and pretending like they're not adults with bills to pay and work to go to in 48 hours.

Saturday mornings are spent in the local supermarket, convincing Oikawa that  _no_ , it's not 'perfectly fine' to buy twenty packages of milk bread to live off for the week.

Saturday evenings are spent in their favourite little ramen shop a few streets down, where Hajime gets to admire Oikawa in the poor lighting without having to worry about getting caught. Where Hajime gets to bump his leg against Oikawa's in their usual booth because it's  _tiny_ and not because Hajime likes how it feels when they brush against each other. Where Hajime gets to  _indulge_ in Oikawa's silly laugh when he sees something funny or tells Hajime a story about something ridiculous that happened to him earlier that week. Where Hajime gets to  _forget_ that they're strictly  _friends._

"Because," Oikawa says, "I'm curious."

" _Why_?"

"Well," Oikawa shrugs, "I've never  _seen_ you with anyone before, so I was wondering."

Hajime grips the pillow by his side a little tighter. "No."

"No, what?"

"No boyfriend."

He expects Oikawa to push it, to ask more questions, but he doesn't. Instead, he hums and turns his attention back to the television, just in time to hear the presenter say ' _so, is it not possible that aliens created the pyramids_?'

And that's the end of that.

* * *

 

Except, it's not. And Hajime's a bloody idiot for ever thinking it would be.

His house is  _full_ of plants from Oikawa these days, so he's not all  _that_ surprised when he opens the door one evening to find Oikawa holding a large plant pot and grinning that grin that means Hajime's knows can only mean trouble.

" _Iwa-chan_ ," Oikawa says brightly, stepping into Hajime's apartment like he's meant to be there (Hajime thinks he might). "I've got you a little gift."

"I can see that," Hajime murmurs, watching as Oikawa glances pensively around the apartment, humming to himself as he tries to think of the right place to put the plant. " _Ah_." He turns to face Hajime. "Bedroom?"

Hajime raises a brow. "My bedroom?"

" _Mmm_ ," Oikawa hums, already making his way down the corridor he knows leads to Hajime's bedroom. "These'll work best there."

" _Work_?" Hajime repeats in confusion, following Oikawa down the corridor.

"Look," Oikawa says hastily, his cheeks reddening just a little. "They'll  _look_ best there."

Hajime watches as Oikawa enters his bedroom and makes a beeline for the bedside table, shoving his lamp out of the way so he can put the pot down. "What are they?"

"Hmm?" Oikawa picks up the pot, brows furrowed slightly as he moves it towards Hajime's dresser. "What was that?"

"What plant is it?" Hajime asks again. "I don't think I've seen that one."

" _Rosemary_ ," Oikawa says with a grin, taking a step backwards to admire the plant on the dresser. " _Perfect_."

Hajime frowns and takes a step forwards because— Because, honestly? As much as he loves flowers and plants,  _enough is enough_. "Why do you keep giving me these?"

"To brighten up your drab and dull home," Oikawa says flippantly, watching curiously as Hajime closes the gap between them. "Plants are the key to a happy home, you know?" 

Hajime rolls his eyes and takes another step forwards until they're standing just a few inches away from each other. "Oikawa?"

Oikawa glances away, cheeks redder than Hajime is used to.

"Oikawa?"

He still refuses to look up and instead fixes his gaze on the plant on Hajime's dresser.

" _Tooru_?" 

Oikawa's breath catches in his throat as he  _finally_ glances up to meet Hajime's gaze. "Yes, Iwa-chan?"

"What's the deal with all the plants?"

"I  _told_ you, the—"

"Cactus," Hajime says firmly. "Thought to help ward off negative energies."

Oikawa laughs nervously. "I don't know wha—"

"Bamboo," Hajime continues on, thinking about the bamboo plant that sits on his kitchen island. "Helps promote comfort and calmness and reduces stress."

"Iwa-chan, I don't kno—"

"Rosemary," Hajime says, nodding towards the plant behind them. "What does this one do?"

"Iwa-chan..."

" _Tooru_ ," Hajime says quietly, taking the final step forwards so they're standing practically nose to nose. "What does  _rosemary_ do?"

Oikawa sighs, breath fanning across Hajime's face as he reluctantly meets Hajime's gaze. "Rosemary helps to attract  _sincere_ love and happiness."

"Ah," Hajime laughs. "Idiot."

Oikawa squawks and shoots Hajime a weak glare. " _Sorry_ for trying to improve the love life of my _boring_ neighbour."

Hajime hums and brings his hands up to rest gently on Oikawa's hips, pulling them closer together still. "I mean, you  _really_ didn't need the rosemary for that one."

"What do you me— Oh," Oikawa glances down at the hands on his hips. " _Oh_." His lips twitch upwards into a pleased little grin. "Iwa-chan, why didn't you  _say_ anything?"

"You're the one subtly meddling with my life with  _plants_ and you're mad  _I_ didn't say anything?"

Oikawa laughs, leaning forwards to rest his head against Hajime's. "I guess you have a point."

"I guess."

"So," Oikawa clears his throat. "What now?"

Hajime pretends to ponder the question for one long moment, grinning when Oikawa whines impatiently underneath him, before he closes the gap between them enjoys the way Oikawa  _sighs_ happily into the kiss.

Behind them, the rosemary plant flutters gently. 


End file.
